Helping children and teenagers to "just say no" to drugs becomes a little easier with a new high tech educational tool that shows them the science behind addiction.

Addictive drugs have the power to destroy brains and end young lives.

A new software program, called Visualizing Addiction, uses brain scans from actual drug users to show young people the short and long term effects of drugs.

Victor Shamas, of the Center for Image Processing, says, "We're not telling them anything about 'don't do drugs.' We're showing them images of the brain and letting them decide for themselves what to conclude."

The brain imaging data is from CT and MRI scans that used to be available to professionals only.

One of the images is a CT scan of a normal healthy brain, compared to a CT scan of the brain of a methamphetamine user.

The meth brain has significantly less red, illustrating reduced brain activity due to long term drug use.

Jordan Matti went through the Visualizing Addiction program as part of his college psychology course.

He says it was eye-opening.

He says, "We got to see from a physical and chemical level, exactly what the effects of drugs are on the brain."'

Educators say the Visualizing Addiction program is a valuable tool on several levels.

The Visualizing Addiction program is currently being used in middle schools, high schools and colleges around the country.

Drug Facts

The effects of alcohol are experienced differently for each individual depending on their size, sex, body build, and metabolism.

Physical addiction is characterized by the presence of tolerance (needing more and more of the drug to achieve the same effect).

Methadone mimics many of the effects of opiates such as heroin.

The effects of marijuana are felt within minutes, reach their peak in 10 to 30 minutes, and may linger for two or three hours.

Since about 1990, GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) has been abused in the U.S. for its euphoric, sedative, and anabolic (body building) effects. It is a central nervous system depressant that was widely available over-the-counter in health food stores during the 1980s and until 1992.